Physicians are increasingly willing to perform more aggressive interventional and therapeutic endoscopic procedures including, but not limited to, removal of lesions (e.g., cancerous and other lesions), tunneling under the mucosal layer of the gastrointestinal tract to treat issues below the mucosa, full thickness removal of tissue (e.g., cancerous and other types), treatment of other organs by passing outside of the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery), endoscopic treatment and/or repair of post-surgical issues, such as post-surgical leaks, breakdown of surgical staple lines and/or anastomotic leaks, thoracic surgery, and airway or pleural space procedures, among others.
These complex procedures often require double-channel endoscopes to perform. However, many facilities do not have access to double-channel endoscopes. Articulating tools could also be applied to these procedures, but most designs are not ergonomically controllable with existing endoscopes. The extra degrees of freedom offered by articulating instruments are also difficult for a single physician to control.